Bookmarks: Top Edmonton reads of 2022

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Jonathan Whitelaw describes his new story as a “cozy mystery,” a horrible crime happening in an idyllic setting, with innocent bystanders taking the place of hardened cops.

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His newest book, The Bingo Hall Detectives, fits the bill perfectly. Local journalist Jason Brazel gets dragged into a murder investigation by his nosy mother-in-law, Amita, a retiree with a penchant for bingo.  

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“With the cozy mystery, you never see the knife go in. There’s no gratuitous violence, but at the end of the day there’s someone dead and a killer has to get caught,” says Whitelaw.

His cozy setting is Penrith, a small town in northern England halfway between Scotland and London. It’s known as a tourist destination, small enough for locals to get up to mischief yet big enough for it to seem plausible. It’s also a place he’s familiar with.

The Glasgow native relocated to Alberta last summer and settled in Grande Prairie where his wife is a doctor at the local hospital. He landed in Edmonton lin May just in time to catch the Oilers’ playoff run.

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“The weekend we arrived was either game three or game four of the Battle of Alberta,” says Whitelaw. “What an introduction that was to the city.”

Throughout the book, Jason refers to Amita as “the sheriff of Penrith,” a somewhat polite way of calling out her gossipy and nosy tendencies.

While Whitelaw admits he pulled heavily from his own life — along with his familiarity of Penrith, he too was a journalist — his relationship with his mother-in-law isn’t the inspiration for Jason and Amita.

“If I was to team up with my mother-in-law, there would be more murders. I think we would end up killing each other,” says Whitelaw with a laugh.

The Bingo Hall Detectives is getting its Canadian release from Harper Collins Canada on Dec. 27.

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Along with The Bingo Hall Detectives, an incredible read from a new Albertan, here are another nine great reads written by local authors and released in 2022.

Swollening by Jason Purcell

Author and bookstore owner Jason Purcell’s poetry collection Swollening was one of the best of the year, an exploration of trauma both internal and external. It’s a great read for for fans of poetry, but it’ll likely satisfy those who normally steer clear of the genre too.

Letters to a Stranger: Essays to the Ones who Haunt Us by Colleen Kinder

What would you say to that interesting someone you met while travelling, but whom you never saw again? This collection of essays, edited by Colleen Kinder, explores what writers would say to the memorable people they meet ever so briefly while on the move. It’s in turn both heart-warming and heart-wrenching.

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The Elephant on Karluv Bridge by Thomas Trofimuk

Myriad intersecting lives find each other in Prague at the famous Karluv Bridge in Thomas Trofimuk’s newest book. Each story connects to another, unravelling the delectable web of humanity that’s at the heart of this amazing book. At the centre? An elephant.

In the Dark We Forget by Sandra SG Wong

A woman wakes up in the mountains with no memory of who she is or how she got there. Sandra SG Wong’s newest book, In the Dark We Forget, made a great summer read and would be just as good while cozied up next to a fire in the dead of winter.

Kinauvit? What’s Your Name? The Eskimo Disc System and a Daughter’s Search for her Grandmother by Norma Dunning

Sometimes our own history is right beneath our noses. Norma Dunning reveals the mundane horrors behind the Eskimo Identification Canada System, a system dropped just as quickly as it was cobbled together. The award-winning author mixes in her own story to give it a personal touch.

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Deanna Durbin, Judy Garland and the Golden Age of Hollywood by Melanie Gill

Hollywood’s sweetheart returns to centre stage in this enlightening biography by St. Albert author and performer Melanie Gall. The Winnipeg-born Durbin managed to live out her final years in relative obscurity but was at one point the highest-paid star in America, an amazing story told by an amazing writer.  

Abandoned Alberta II by Joe Chowaniec

Empty buildings dot the landscape, calling out to be explored and captured. Joe Chowaniec does just that in his second book about forgotten elements in this province, capturing the sadness and serenity of the places left behind by humanity.

Buffalo is the New Buffalo by Chelsea Vowel

Chelsea Vowel calls her new book Métis Futurism, a collection of short stories exploring science fiction through a Métis lens. Unexpected technologies, new takes on old genres and a fresh perspective make this a must-read.

The Surgeon’s Daughter by Audrey Blake

Edmonton author Jaima Fixsen is one half of the writing duo that is the pen name Audrey Blake, author of the incredible work, The Surgeon’s Daughter. This historical drama tracks a woman trying to make it in the man’s world of medicine in the 19th century.

yegarts@postmedia.com